Gotthard - Need To Believe review
| Band: | Gotthard |
| Album: | Need To Believe |
| Style: | Hard rock |
| Release date: | September 04, 2009 |
| A review by: | Baz Anderson |
01. Shangri-La
02. Unspoken Words
03. Need To Believe
04. Unconditional Faith
05. I Don't Mind
06. Break Away
07. Don't Let Me Down
08. Right From Wrong
09. I Know, You Know
10. Rebel Soul
11. Tears To Cry
12. Ain't Enough [bonus]
13. Speed Of Light [bonus]
Remember when rock was about good music? Solid songs, catchy melodies, a good riff. None of this symphonic orchestration or ultra-technical "because we can" soulless music. Well Gotthard do, and they are going to help you remember too.
For any non-Swiss people unfamiliar with the band, they are the most popular Swiss rock band ever when measuring by Swiss album sales. The last seven of their previous eight albums all reached number one on the Swiss album charts. Mighty impressive.
So here is album number nine, Need To Believe, and it would be criminal if this album didn't do the same. Gotthard are a hard rock band that take a lot of influence from bands like Whitesnake and perhaps even Deep Purple, and use them in their own clean, modern sound. This is rock music how it is supposed to be; no gimmicks and money making schemes, no frills or motor-mouth ego-driven frontman doing the talking. Just the music.
Gotthard have a fantastic ability to write catchy songs with an infectious hook and memorable chorus. There aren't any musicians in the band that feel the need to show off or perform excessive solos, the whole Gotthard entity is one of complete strength in what it does. Singer Steve Lee adds a lot to the band with his varied, often bluesy vocals. Perhaps he wants to be David Coverdale a little too much, but Steve's performance here is both genuine and professional.
Pick any song from Need To Believe and it'll be a good one. This is band that know what they are doing, it is no wonder Gotthard have been around for so long. The album is a good length with a range of songs that all share the same compelling Gotthard harmonies and quality. Need To Believe boasts an unbroken excellence that people worldwide will enjoy. It is about time Gotthard became a little more known outside of that little mountainous country of theirs, they sure deserve it.
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Hard rock
Nuclear Blast
Switzerland
Length: 44:10
Rating breakdown
| Performance: | 8 |
| Songwriting: | 9 |
| Originality: | 7 |
| Production: | 9 |
Comments
Comments: 20
Visited by: 168 users
| Abattoir Staff Posts: 3699  |
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| Baz Anderson Staff Posts: 13254  |
On a side, personal note. I nearly didn't even listen to this for review because I thought it would be some gothic crap (with the name and all) - but was surprised beyond belief when I heard it. Really a fantastic album.
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| DayFly Posts: 383  |
they are the most popular Swiss rock band ever when measuring by Swiss album sales Krokus outselled Gotthard, you know.
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| Baz Anderson Staff Posts: 13254 |
Including international sales, yes. But I said just inside Switzerland.
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| Marcel Hubregtse Grumpy Old Fuck Elite Posts: 40071  |
Why does the name Gotthard evoke images of a gothic band for you? You never heard of the Gotthard tunnel in Switzerland, which is one of the longest tunnels in the world? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gotthard_Road_Tunnel
---- Member of the true crusade against European Flower Metal Yesterday is dead and gone, tomorrow is out of sight Dawn Crosby (r.i.p.) 05.04.1963 - 15.12.1996 
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| Baz Anderson Staff Posts: 13254 |
Nope, never heard of it. I don't live anywhere near it - hahaha.
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| Marcel Hubregtse Grumpy Old Fuck Elite Posts: 40071 |
Written by Baz Anderson on 05.09.2009 at 17:39 I don't live near it either, but that doesn't mean one should be ignorant/oblivious about stuff far away. Anyone who possessed a bit of general knowledge should know about the Gotthard Tunnel. It's like knowing about the Great Wall Of China or the Petronas Twin Towers.
---- Member of the true crusade against European Flower Metal Yesterday is dead and gone, tomorrow is out of sight Dawn Crosby (r.i.p.) 05.04.1963 - 15.12.1996
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| Baz Anderson Staff Posts: 13254 |
Written by Marcel Hubregtse on 05.09.2009 at 17:46 Well it probably seems like common information to you because you're on mainland Europe. Do you know the Humber bridge?
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| Marcel Hubregtse Grumpy Old Fuck Elite Posts: 40071 |
Written by Baz Anderson on 05.09.2009 at 17:56 Like I just texted you. Yep I do know the Humber Bridge  But maybe it all has to do with the fact I really do like those sorts of engineering feats.
---- Member of the true crusade against European Flower Metal Yesterday is dead and gone, tomorrow is out of sight Dawn Crosby (r.i.p.) 05.04.1963 - 15.12.1996
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| Baz Anderson Staff Posts: 13254 |
Written by Marcel Hubregtse on 05.09.2009 at 21:13 Yeh, apparently if you got all the steel cabling in the bridge and laid it straight, it would be able to go around the world. And also the distance between the main pillars is an inch more at the top than the bottom due to the curvature of the earth. Fantastic stuff.
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| Marcel Hubregtse Grumpy Old Fuck Elite Posts: 40071 |
Written by Baz Anderson on 05.09.2009 at 21:24 Btw although I know the bridge I did have to look up its claim to fame Apparently it is one of the longest single suspension bridges in the world. I wonder who the four top ones are though.
---- Member of the true crusade against European Flower Metal Yesterday is dead and gone, tomorrow is out of sight Dawn Crosby (r.i.p.) 05.04.1963 - 15.12.1996
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| Baz Anderson Staff Posts: 13254 |
Written by Marcel Hubregtse on 05.09.2009 at 21:30 Yeh, it used to be the longest suspension bridge in the world for 16 years. These are the bridges that are longer now though: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Belt_Bridge http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Akashi-Kaikyo_Bridge http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xihoumen_Bridge http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Runyang_Bridge
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| corrupt With a lowercase c Admin Posts: 3571  |
Written by Baz Anderson on 05.09.2009 at 21:24 Pah! During construction of the あかしかいきょ bridge in in Kobe Japan, an earthquake moved the two towers over one meter apart. That's engineering under extreme conditions! P.S. finally a chance to make use of the japanese classes I took  (also it's the world's longest suspension bridge!)
---- 
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| Marcel Hubregtse Grumpy Old Fuck Elite Posts: 40071 |
Written by Baz Anderson on 05.09.2009 at 21:37 I could have known  since the company my dad worked for (Ballast Nedam, a dredging and construction company) built that one.
---- Member of the true crusade against European Flower Metal Yesterday is dead and gone, tomorrow is out of sight Dawn Crosby (r.i.p.) 05.04.1963 - 15.12.1996
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| DayFly Posts: 383 |
Written by Baz Anderson on 05.09.2009 at 16:44 You're right, my bad.
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| Jeff Freaky Admin Elite Posts: 7078  |
Written by Baz Anderson on 05.09.2009 at 21:37 This one is not bad too  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Millau_Viaduct And I'm sure that Marcel didn't know it 
---- Come with us to Hellfest 2011!
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| Baz Anderson Staff Posts: 13254 |
Well the album made it to #1 in Switzerland. Well done to them.
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| melissa Posts: 1 |
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